Page 23 of Protected By the Alien Knight

A second, more violent orgasm wracks her form, back arching like a bow. At last, I allow myself to surrender with a feral roar, claiming her mouth in a scorching kiss as I spend myself in hot, pulsing eruptions that seem to go on forever.

When we finally break apart, gasping for air, my legs are trembling with aftershocks of release. Annie’s flanks gleam with a sheen of sweat, her unfocused eyes heavy-lidded and languid with bliss. I drop a tender kiss to the crown of her disarrayed curls, husky chuckles rumbling in my chest. Even in her thoroughly ravished state, my goddess manages a blissful smile that lights my soul.

“Now we really should prepare...” she murmurs, with no real urgency behind the words.

I chuckle again, sweeping her up into my arms in a way that has her squeaking in delighted surprise. As I carry Annie into the expansive fresher, she peppers my jaw and neck with featherlight kisses, practically vibrating with excitement.

“I can hardly believe it’s really happening,” she murmurs against my skin. “After all these years, decades of struggle and heartache... I’m finally signing the treaty that cements the Folmodian Alliance!”

I hum in acknowledgment, relishing the feel of her pressed so intimately against me as we step under the cascading streams of heated water. Annie arches back, letting the soothing spray sluice over her glorious curves with a contented sigh.

“Do you know how many sleepless nights I spent these past three months agonizing over every single nuance of this deal?” She grins up at me impishly. “Well, maybe you do, considering all the times you had to pry me away from my work and drag me to bed...”

I chuckle at the memory, sweeping a strand of sodden hair back from her face. “I seem to recall those more recent practice negotiations being particularly... vigorous.”

Annie’s tinkling laugh is music to my soul. “You absolute scoundrel!”

She sobers slightly, trailing aimless patterns over my chest with those clever fingers. “But truly, Crux... I don’t think I could have reached this victory without you by my side. You guided me when I felt lost, overwhelmed.”

I capture her roaming hand and press a reverent kiss to her knuckles. “Your brilliance lights the way, my starlight. I simply bask in your radiance.”

Her eyes shine with unshed tears as she winds her arms around my shoulders, melting fully against me once more.

“I love you, Crux. So fiercely that it steals my breath. And now we have a future to spend together, no more duty or protocol.” She hesitates, drawing back to search my gaze. “Actually... speaking of the future...”

Pulse thrumming with anticipation, I tenderly tuck a stray tendril of damp hair behind her ear. “Go on.”

Annie bites her lower lip, suddenly radiating nervous energy. When our eyes meet again, her gaze is full of naked longing. “I don’t want to waste another moment apart, Crux. I want us to start building our new life together, our forever...”

She breaks off, demurely lowering her eyes. But not before I catch the faintest hint of a blush staining those high cheekbones so alluringly. I tilt her chin back up, unable to resist leaving a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses along the elegant column of her throat.

“Annie, you are my truth, my guiding light through the madness. Our bond transcends the mortal realm.” I gather a breath, holding her gaze steadily. “Which is why I don’t want you just staying with me temporarily while your estate isrepaired. What I crave, more than life itself, is for you to take up permanent residence with me on Avenia. As my mate, my partner, for all our days to come.”

Her lips part in an awed inhalation, but I continue with blazing conviction.

“The Grandmaster offered me a position training novice knights. But I will not undertake this path without you by my side.”

I bring her knuckles to my lips reverently. “Andrea Grace Agnew, will you do me the profound honor of becoming my forever? We can still use your family’s estate for gatherings once the stain of those Radicals is cleansed. But I need you with me on Avenia, as my partner in all things now that your obligations on Orion are finished.”

Annie’s eyes well with joyful tears as she processes my heartfelt proposal. A radiant smile blooms across those full lips as she launches herself into my arms, raining fervent kisses over every inch of my face and throat she can reach.

“Yes, my star knight! A thousand times, yes!” she exclaims fervently between each scorching caress of her mouth. “I cannot imagine a greater honor than binding my fate to yours for all our days to come.”

Relief and euphoria crash over me in dizzying waves. Capturing her face between my palms, I slant my lips over hers in a searing kiss that steals the very breath from my lungs. Annie melts against me with a throaty whimper.

I growl into the heated fusion of our mouths, backing her up against the sleek tiles until the cascading water sluices over us in a torrent of liquid heat. Annie moans shamelessly when my hands roam in possessive sweeps over her lush curves, kneading the supple swell of her backside to grind our arching bodies together.

There’s no more need for gentle restraint or careful choreography. This frenzied joining is pure unleashed passion, the rapturous consummation of our unbreakable destiny as mates, as eternal partners in soul and flesh.

I hoist Annie’s legs around my waist without preamble, slamming her back against the wall as I bury myself to the throbbing hilt inside her with one powerful thrust. She cries out in ecstasy, nails scoring delicious lines down my back as I immediately set a punishing pace, hammering up into her sweetness with everything I have.

“Crux!” Annie sobs my name like a benediction, throwing her head back to offer up the elegant line of her throat. I growl savagely in response, teeth grazing over her racing pulse as she writhes and clenches around my pistoning length with wild abandon.

Every fevered stroke brings us hurtling closer to that blazing precipice until—

“Mom? Crux? The signing ceremony is starting soon—oh my god!”

Alice’s mortified squeak cuts through the steam-filled air like a plasma bolt. I freeze mid-thrust, whipping my head toward the source of the intrusion just as Max rounds the corner behind his sister, arms laden with a florist’s bouquet.

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